Improvement in boat-detaching apparatus



W. R. DOU G LAS.

Boat-Detachng Apparatus. No.150,23l. Patented Apru 28,1874.'

' ff/W KW@ UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM It. DOUGLAS, OF DUNEDIN, NEW ZEALAND.

IMPROVEMENT IN BOAT-DETACHING APPARATUS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 150,231, dated April '28, 1874; application filed January 11, 1872.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WM. B. DOUGLAS, of Dunedin, Colony of New Zealand, have invented certain Improvements in Boat-Detaching Apparatus, oi' which the following is a specification The object of my invention is to furnish a safe, reliable, and ei'ective boat-detaching apparatus, which possesses simplicity and strength.

The invention consists of a cup shaped socket, provided with suitable flanges for fastening the same to the boat, and having a clamping-lever pivoted between lateral flanges on the body of said socket, the clamping end ofthe lever being slightly beveled or rounded, so as to retain in position within the socket the cylindrical head of a bar suspended from the davits, in such a manner that, when the said head is in the socket, and the long end of the lever moved to cause the other end to clamp the cylindrical head of the bar, the boat will be supported, and can be raised or lowered and quickly detached, as occasion requires. The levers are operated by a chain and a pulley, as hereinafter described.

In the drawings, Figure l is a longitudinal section of a boat having my invention applied thereto; Fig. 2, a detached sectional view of the cup-shaped socket with the lever pivoted thereto, and Fig. 3 a plan or top view of the socket.

In the drawings, the letter B represents the cup-shaped metallic socket, which is provided with a suitable flange, a, projecting from its upper edge for securing it to the boat, and with anges a a', projecting laterally from the body of the socket, between which is pivoted, by a bolt, c', the clamping-lever C. This lever has its upper clamping-head beveled or rounded, so as to confine in place the cylindrie-al head of A the bar A when the same is inserted in the socket; and in order to operate the said levers, I provide the long arm of one of them with a pulley, D, and the end of the other with an eye, e, in which is secured the end of a chain, E, and around the pulley on the end of the other lever, thence backward under a pulley, D', suitably attached to the bottom of the boat, and the end of the chain is adapted to be secured to the cast-off catch G, attached to the stern or bow of the boat, in such a manner that it can be easily and quickly cast 0E when the levers are to be released from holding the heads of the bars A 5 or, instead of this manner of releasing and holding the levers, one of them may be provided with a rod extending along the bottom of the boat, and carrying at its end a pulley, and one end of the chain be secured to the end of the other lever, and passed through this pulley, and thence under a pulley attached to the bottom of the boat, and the chain can then be secured to a cast-off lever pivoted to one of the seats of the boat. By either arrangement, as soon as the chain is released, the levers are also released and the boat drops.

In order to strengthen and support the cupshaped socket from vertical displacement, I pass through the lower end of the same a headed holt, H, the lower end of which is connected with the bottom of the boat in any suitable manner.

By the employment of a pivoted clampinglever in contradistinction to a horizontal slide for confining the ball-headed bar in place, the attaching and detaching of the boat is much more expeditious, and not being rigid they can be iiXed alternatelyfirst the bow and then the stern 5 and in the event of any accident disconnecting one of the headed bars, the other can be displaced at once, and both fastened afresh; and, further, the levers are held by a tensile strain instead of by rigid connections, and hence are much more ei'ective in retaining the cylindrical head in place, preventing any accidental displacement of one of the headed bars.

The most important feature of the invention is its simplicity, and the rapidity with which the apparatus may be attached and detached, enabling the boat to be dropped when a vessel is in rapid motion; and, further, there is no danger of one end of the boat becoming detached while raising or lowering the same, owing to the employment of the clampinglever, which effectually resists all vertical strain on the headed bar.

I claim as my inventionrlhe cup-shaped socket B, having the clamping-lever C pivoted between anges thereon, to operate in combination with the bar A, having the cylindrical head A, substantially as described.

WLLLIAM E. DOUGLAS. [n s] Witnesses EDWARD WATERS, WALTER SMYTHE BAYsToN. 

